Kept Promises
by Nyla Stilez
Summary: When Naruto is faced with a new and difficult challenge, that resulted from a past decision, he begins to distance himself from the ones he loves- especially the love of his life. The consequences of his past decisions and promises cause him to question who his true love really is. Main: NarutoxSakura NarutoxShion
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is a recent idea that I had for a story. I know that this chapter is pretty short, but I was just trying to put something out there and see how interested people might be in reading this. This story is supposed to be centered around Naruto and Sakura's relationship, and how it will be affected by Naruto keeping his promise to the priestess, Shion. Right now I see the main pairing as being NaruSaku, but I might decide to have a relationship poll. Sooo, anyways please enjoy! Read & Review! And please let me know if you want more or not. THANKS!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1

The sound of leaves crunching under foot filled the air as Sakura walked through the summer forest. A light, warm breeze ruffled her short pink hair. The pinkette(?) smoothed her hair down before stretching her body. She felt her back crack as she let out a soft sigh- relaxing her usually tense body.

Surprisingly, today her shift at the hospital had ended early. After tending to some last minute things and making sure that Tsunade-sama didn't need her for anything else, Sakura had been more than happy to take an early leave. Lately, she had been working longer hours at the hospital and it was starting to catch up with her. It seemed as though the more distance Naruto put between the two of them the more Sakura would throw herself into her work- which was something that she had conviently overlooked until her shishou had asked her if everything was okay between her and Naruto. Neither one of them wanted to address the problem at hand; not wanting to disrupt the shaky ground that their relationship was being held together by.

Things were most definitely not okay. She wasn't okay. He wasn't okay. At this point their situation was beyond pitiful. She felt her throat close up as she tried to keep her tears at bay- something she had recently found herself doing quite often. It hurt like hell to think about Naruto. She had come to realize that she loved him deeply a long time ago, but that wasn't enough to fix their problems. It didn't have anything to do with him believing that she didn't actually love him. She had proved her love to him on more than one occasion. Their current situation wasn't due to his lack of love for her either, because they both knew that he loved more than anything. No, the root of their problems came from Naruto believing that he was danger to her, that he didn't deserve her. Which was so far from the truth. If anything she didn't deserve him or his unconditional love. He would constantly tell her how he never wanted to hurt her, but what he failed to realize was that no matter what kind of physical pain she experienced it would never be equivalent to the pain she felt in her heart when he pushed her away.

Sakura cleared her head as best she could as she finally reached the outskirts of her team's training grounds. She could easily spot Naruto out in the middle of the training grounds. She watched as his chest rose and fell as he basked in the warmth of the evening's sunlight, obviously trying to cool down from his earlier training session.

Sakura leaned up against the tree she had been using to keep herself out of sight. She was extremely nervous. It seemed that outside of interacting with each other within a group Naruto had been trying to avoid her at all costs. He was aware of her recent late hours spent at the hospital, so he definitely wouldn't be expecting to see her here. She just hoped that he wouldn't push her away any further than he already had; that he would just once open up to her.

Sakura took a deep, shaky breath before walking out from behind her tree and out into the open.


	2. Chapter 2

_Is This Love?_

A warm summer breeze passed over the training field, mingling with the already humid atmosphere. The dark green leaves rustled overhead- causing the shadows cast by the leaves to dance across the grass. Sunlight flickered through the trees brightening up the shaded ground. A low thump was heard as Naruto let himself flop down onto the soft ground. His well sculpted chest rose and fell as his heart tried to return to its normal pace after being pushed to its limit during his previous workout. The high he experienced whenever he finished training always managed to put him in a relaxed state of mind.

Naruto linked his hands together behind his head as he stretched out his body. He felt his muscles tense and pop as he flexed them. His body shifted as the blades of grass that he was resting on top of brushed up against his sides. Goose bumps appeared on his moist, sweaty skin as another warm breeze blew through the field. Naruto frowned in mild annoyance as he felt his body's warmth being replaced with a cool, nippy sensation. Abruptly, he sat up and looked around the surrounding area for his black t-shirt.

The sound of a twig snapping made his ears perk up in surprise. Having been previously concentrating on relaxing his body had caused him to overlook the presence of a familiar chakra. Keeping his head down he feigned ignorance to her presence in an attempt to allow her some time to decide against making her presence known and leaving just as quickly as she had come. But, a part of him deep down inside knew that it would hurt like hell if she ever turned her back on him and walked away for good.

Sakura hesitated as she heard a twig snap under her foot. She glanced up and looked over at Naruto waiting for him to show any type of reaction to her unexpected intrusion. Receiving none she felt her eyes begin to burn with the possibility of tears. She wasn't stupid. She knew that Naruto had already sensed her presence. What kind of ninja would he be if he wasn't able to sense an unmasked, familiar chakra presence? The fact that he intentionally ignored her broke her heart. She bit her bottom lip as she felt it start to tremble. She wasn't going to cry. She refused to be that little girl that only knew how to bawl her eyes out. Sakura knew that she was much stronger than that; she was stronger than this. She was never afraid to speak her mind; making sure that everyone knew how she felt. So why did the thought of speaking her mind _right_ now cause her to feel sick to her stomach? She was afraid of losing everything.

The subject at hand was one that the two of them had carefully avoided for far too long. Tiptoeing around sensitive subjects wasn't something Sakura did, ever. No, Sakura preferred getting straight to the point and finding a solution to the problem as soon as possible. But it seemed as though her usual straight forwardness would only cause her more trouble in this situation, because this was a situation that needed to be treated with the utmost care if she wanted to refrain from completely destroying one of the best things that had ever happened to her.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to calm down. She blinked back the tears before taking an unsteady step forward. The sound of her heart racing echoed in her ears. Mentally, she growled in frustration as her frayed nerves refused to calm down. Even though she didn't feel ready it was too late for her to back down. Breathing in deeply, she forced herself to finish the short walk over to her teammate.

"You're going to catch a cold if you don't put some decent clothing on", Sakura called out.

Naruto smiled to himself. It seemed as though no matter what setting she was in it seemed as though Sakura was unable to keep her medic side from getting the best of her. It was one of the many things that he had always admired about her. Just simply thinking about the things that had made him fall madly in love with her made it that much harder for him to put distance between the two of them.

"Here", She said handing him his t-shirt.

"Thanks."

Naruto stood up before pulling his t-shirt on over his head. Looking down he was met with an all too familiar pair of bright emerald orbs. He felt his mouth go dry as a million different emotions threatened to burst out onto the surface. It truly mystified him as to how not seeing someone for such a small period of time could cause your feelings for them to become so intensified. Against his better judgment he wanted to say something, anything to somehow convey to her his conflicting emotions. Thankfully she interrupted him before he could say or do something he would later regret.

"Do you feel like grabbing something to eat?"


End file.
